Anti-Trust Laws for M&A in India

• Author(s): Manish Kumar Sharma, Ankita Singh
• Date: 24-Sep-2019
• Post in: Antitrust

Antitrust Jurisdiction triggering events/thresholds  

Q1) What are the trigger events under anti-trust laws?  

The threshold tests are:

1. Where the parties have domestic presence:

   1. a) At least INR 80 billion (USD 1.14 billion approx.) in terms of assets or INR 240 billion (USD 3.43 billion approx.) In terms of turnover on a group-wise basis, or

   2. b) At least INR 20 billion (USD 286 million approx.) in terms of assets or INR 60 billion (USD 857 million approx.) in terms of turnover on an entity-wise basis

2. Where the parties have cross-border presence:

a) Globally, at least USD 4 billion with at least more than INR 10 billion (USD 143 million approx.) in India in terms of assets or USD 12 billion with at least more than INR 30 billion (USD 429 million approx.) in India in terms of turnover on a group-wise basis, or b) At least USD 1 billion with at least more than INR 10 billion (USD 143 million approx.) in India in terms of assets or USD 3 billion with at least more than INR 30 billion (USD 429 million approx.) in India in terms of turnover on an entity-wise basis.

Exemptions:-
(a) The Government has exempted an enterprise, whose control, shares, voting rights or assets is being acquired, has assets of the value of not more than INR 3.5 billion or turnover of not more than INR 10 billion (USD 143 million approx.) in India from the provisions of section 5 of the said Act for a period of five years upto 28th March, 2022. (b) The Government has exempted the ‘group’ exercising less than fifty per cent of voting rights in other enterprise from the provisions of section 5 of the said act for a period of five years.